Fishing Lac Henri in Mauricie, Quebec

• Overview

  Lac Henri sits within Mauricie in Quebec. The surface lies 467 metres up. It covers about 6 hectares, so this is small water you can walk round in under an hour. For a base, La Tuque sits 64 km out. Saguenay sits 105 km out, and it is the nearest city worth the name. What else is close: Lac Louis at 0.7 km, Lac du Rocher Fendu (0.8 km), Lac Julien at 1 km, Lac Long (1.1 km) and Lac Denis at 1.2 km. It sits well inside the county, so one set of rules covers it.

• Where to Fish on Lac Henri

  No published figure covers depth, so learn it as you fish. The shallow end warms first and pulls fish in ahead of the rest. The productive water is a rod length or two out, not a hundred. Records held for Mauricie cover northern pike, brook trout, walleye and yellow perch. These are county-wide records, so not all of them will be in this water. Anyone new to Lac Henri should walk it once before setting up.

• Seasonal Patterns

  Between January at about -16°C and July at about 17°C, the water has a wide range to work through. Winter runs most of the calendar, and everything worth doing happens in the gap. Hard water holds through the cold months, breaking up near early May. The season between ice runs from about early May to mid November. The middle of summer slows a little, with dawn and dusk carrying it. Keep it in mind when planning a trip to Lac Henri.

• Tackle & Baits

  Ownership and access are not documented in what we hold. Access is unmapped, which usually means a farm track and a walk. Largemouth respond to soft plastics tight to cover; go weedless where the growth is heavy. Rules for this water may differ from the county norm. Where tickets apply, they are sold in the nearest town rather than on the bank. Lac Louis, 0.7 km away, makes the obvious fallback. Signs at Lac Henri carry more weight than any list.